TIGER TALES © Staffan Widstrand / WWF English and Literacy Resource for Primary Schools
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SPECIES TIGER TALES © Staffan Widstrand / WWF English and literacy resource for primary schools OVERVIEW Tigers! They prowl through the stories of our youth, and stalk the literature and poetry of our adult lives, beautiful and powerful. However, wild tiger numbers have plummeted by over 95% in the last century! Three of the nine tiger subspecies are already extinct and there are more tigers in captivity in the USA than there are in the wild. Poaching for their parts which are seen as status symbols or used in traditional Asian medicine, and loss of habitats are the THREE OF main threats to the tiger. THE NINE TIGER SUBSPECIES The aim of this resource is to encourage 7 to 11 year olds ARE ALREADY to find out more about this iconic animal, and the threats EXTINCT it faces, and develop their own ideas and opinions on environmental issues through creative and persuasive writing. Simple activities are provided to help pupils develop their understanding of the natural world and to reflect on how their own actions can help shape the future. This resource has been produced to help schools get involved in our ambitious programme to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger. © Martin Harvey / WWF Request the full resource at wwf.org.uk/iptschools ACTIVITIES IVITY CT Endangered animal pictionary: A A fun game to explore why some species are at risk and what can be done to © Martin Harvey / WWF O N E protect them. IVITY An explorer’s blog: A creative writing CT A activity to find out more about the tiger and its habitat and describe how it would T W O feel to meet a tiger face to face in the wild. CURRICULUM LINKS England KS2 – English Language, comprehension and composition; Science Working IVITY Tiger haiku: Poetry writing activity CT scientifically, animals, living things and their A about the tiger to encourage pupils to use habitats; Geography Locational knowledge, language in a creative way. E place knowledge, human and physical geography; T H R E Computing; Art & Design Northern Ireland KS2 – Language and literacy; The world around us Interdependence, IVITY News report: Top tips for pupils to CT movement and energy, place, change over time; A produce a compelling news report about The Arts Art and Design Technology? the plight of the tiger. F O U R Scotland Curriculum for Excellence P4-P7 – Languages Literacy and English; Sciences Planet Earth, biodiversity and interdependence; Social studies People, place and environment; IVITY The tiger who came to visit: Using Technologies ICT to enhance learning; CT A the WWF television advert as a starting Expressive Arts Art and Design. point, story-writing activity to encourage F I V E imagination and creativity. Wales KS2 2015 – English Language and literacy; Science interdependence; Geography Understanding places, environments and processes; Information and Communication IVITY Tigers on the edge: Use of persuasive Technology; Art & Design. CT A skills to create a campaign and inspire the whole school community to help WWF S I X protect tigers and their habitats. IVITY Tiger tapestry: Inspired by a famous CT A painting by Henri Rousseau, creation of a visual display to raise awareness and N S E V E celebrate the splendor of the natural world. © National Geographic Stock / Michael Nichols / WWF © David Lawson / WWF-UK IVITY CT A Endangered animal pictionary O N E Overview Through a fun game of pictionary, pupils Endangered species explore the concept of endangered species and Scientists use the following categories to keep discuss what can be done to help protect these track of the level of risk animals face in the wild. animals and their habitats. Extinct: No longer exist on the planet (e.g. dodo, quagga, Javan tiger) Extinct in the wild: No longer exist in the wild, Objective only found in captivity (e.g. Wyoming toad, Pere • To learn what the term ‘endangered’ means and why David’s deer) some species are categorised as endangered/at risk Critically endangered: Extremely high risk • To explore actions we can take to help protect of becoming extinct (e.g. black rhino, mountain wildlife and natural habitats gorilla, Bornean orang-utan) Endangered: Very high risk of becoming What you need extinct (e.g. tiger, blue whale, snow leopard) • WWF Endangered Vulnerable: High risk of becoming extinct Animals fact cards (e.g. African elephant, giant panda, polar bear) • Whiteboard/flipchart • Pens What is WWF doing? Get going WWF’s goal is to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature by conserving Discuss what pupils already biodiversity and reducing the impact of know about endangered species. human activity. WWF works in partnership Invite a volunteer to come to the front of the class and with governments, local draw an animal from the endangered animals fact communities and other cards. The rest of the group must guess which animal conservation organisations it is. Before starting on the next drawing with another around the world to help pupil, discuss with the group why this animal might be protect endangered animals endangered and what can be done to protect it. Pupils and restore their habitats. could research other endangered animals and produce additional cards for the game. Bornean orang-utan Black rhinoceros Asian elephant Snow leopard Habitat: Forests on the Habitat: Mostly in the Habitat: Grasslands and Habitat: High mountains of island of Borneo. grasslands of southern forests in Asia. central Asia. Africa. Threats: Forests cut down Threats: Loss of habitat, Threats: Hunted for their for timber and to grow palm Threats: Poaching for conflict with people and fur or because they prey on oil, and the illegal pet trade. their horns, seen as a poaching. livestock status symbol. WWF and Hawksbill turtle – © Martin Harvey / WWF. noceros – © Martin Harvey / WWF, Asian elephant – © Richard Barrett / WWF-UK, Tiger Mountain gorilla Blue whale Hawksbill turtle Habitat: Forests, grasslands Habitat: Mountain forests Habitat: All oceans except Habitat: Atlantic and Pacific and mangroves in Asia. of central Africa. the Arctic. oceans. Threats: Poaching for the Threats: Loss of habitat, Threats: Pollution, shipping Threats: Caught in illegal wildlife trade, loss of poaching, human wildlife and climate change. fishermen’s nets, collection habitat and climate change. conflict and climate of eggs and fewer nesting change. beaches due to climate change and tourism Photo credits: Tiger – © naturepl.com / Andy Rouse / WWF, Bornean orang-utan – © naturepl.com / Edwin Giesbers / WWF, Black rhi Snow leopard - © Klein & Hubert / WWF, Mountain gorilla – © Martin Harvey / WWF, Blue whale – © naturepl.com / David Fleetham / © naturepl.com / Anup Shah WWF IVITY CT A An explorer’s blog – T W O The day I came face to face with a tiger Overview Through this creative writing activity, pupils find out more about the tiger and its habitat and use their imagination and storytelling skills to describe how it would feel to meet a tiger in the wild. Objective • To learn more about what the term ‘endangered’ means and why some species are categorised as endangered/at risk • To explore actions we can take to help protect wildlife and natural habitats What you need • Footage of tigers at www.arkive.org • Resource sheet ‘Meet the Bengal tiger!’ Get going To introduce the activity, you can watch footage of tigers with the class and discuss how these animals live. find out more about the tiger from the resource sheet What do tigers look like? How would you describe their and write a short blog entry about their experience. habitat? What do they need to survive? What do they What happened? Where were they? What did they see? eat? Ask pupils to imagine how they would feel if they How did they feel? What did they do? They could select came face to face with a tiger in the wild. In pairs, they an image to add to their blog. © naturepl.com / Francois Savigny WWF Resource sheet: Meet the Bengal tiger! Population: Fewer than 2,650 Bengal Key threats: Loss of habitat: A huge tigers left in the wild. About 2,200 of amount of forest have been cut down for them are found in India. timber, farming and to build roads and railways. Weight: Up to 260kg – the weight of about nine 10 year olds! Conflict with humans: As their habitats are destroyed and there is less Length: Up to 3 metres from nose to tail wild prey for tigers, they can prey on Appearance: Orange fur with black livestock and then be killed by farmers stripes and a white underbelly. No two trying to protect their livelihood. tigers have the same pattern of stripes. Poaching: Tigers are poached (illegally Habitat: The Bengal tiger is found killed) for their skin and body parts, mainly in the forests, grasslands and which are seen as a status symbol or used mangroves of India. Smaller groups in traditional Asian medicine. can be found in Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. What is WWF doing? Food: Tigers hunt alone mostly at night WWF works with governments, and use their excellent hearing and local communities and other eyesight to catch their food - mainly deer, conservation organisations to wild pigs and antelopes. They quietly stop poaching and deforestation. WWF also works with ‘tiger stalk their prey until they are close champions’ in local communities enough to pounce, killing with a bite with to help protect and monitor tigers their powerful jaws. and their habitat. © National Geographic Stock / Michael Nichols WWF IVITY CT A E Tiger haiku T H R E Overview Poetry is an excellent way for pupils to express themselves, synthesize information they have learned and use language in a creative way.